Bulgrastan
The Khanate of Bulgrastan is an ogre, haruchai, and orc-inhabited domain in the western dells of the Ural Mountains, occupying the upper basin of the Kama River and stretching across the banners of Ars Begs, Bolgar, and Zyria. It is bordered to the west by the Grand Principality of Moskva, on the south by Jagatai Empire, on the east by the Urals and the Dwarven Kingdom of Hoth and on the north by Bjarmaland. Though united under the High Khan in name, the land is ruled through its three great Banners, each commanded by its own powerful warlords and bound by blood, oaths and war.
Occupying the western foothills and river valleys of the Ural Mountains, Bulgrastan stretches from the dense forests of the north to the rolling steppe in the south. Defined by the upper basin of the Kama River and its tributaries, it is a land of extremes, where deep woods give way to open plains, and the seasons dictate the rhythm of life as much as war and trade. The Ural Mountains, though not high by the standards of greater ranges, form a natural barrier running along the Khanate's east edge, their slopes rich in iron, copper and other metals that fuel the forges of its warriors.
Geography
The region is defined most of all by the Kama, which rises in the hills east of Bulgrastan and flows westward through the heart of the khanate before bending southward to join the great Volga. It is the spine of the land, wide and swift in its middle course, sluggish where it pools in the floodplains, and treacherous in spring when the melting snows turn it into a swollen torrent. Along its banks are the most fertile lands of the region, where orcish and ogre settlements cluster, carving out clearings from the thick forests that press close to the river’s edge. The Kama is a road for traders and raiders alike, with longboats and barges moving between the scattered strongholds, bringing iron and furs downstream while carrying foreign wares back into the interior.
To the north, the land is dense with forest, a country of dark woods and hidden lakes, where the waters of the Vishera and the Kolva, two great tributaries, descend from the Ural heights and feed the Kama’s northern banks. These rivers are narrower and wilder, their courses twisting through deep ravines and rocky defiles before emerging onto the plains, carrying the cold breath of the high country with them. The forests here are thick and ancient, untouched in many places, home to beasts and older things that even the warlords of the banners do not claim dominion over.
South of the Kama, the land changes. The forests thin, giving way to rolling grasslands that stretch toward the borderlands of the Jagatai Empire. Here, the Belaya and Ik rivers flow southward from the foothills, their waters warm and slow, winding through broad meadows where herds of wild horses and bison roam. This is the land of the steppe-riders, where the orcish banners of Ars Begs keep their strongholds, and where the khanate’s warriors gather in summer to muster for war. The Belaya, unlike the swift and unpredictable rivers of the north, is gentler, prone to wide bends and shallow fords that make it a natural crossing for those who seek to ride westward.
Eastward, the land rises into the Ural foothills, where the rivers grow fast and narrow, their courses littered with rapids and falls as they tumble down from the highlands. The Chusovaya, flowing from the Ural slopes, is the largest of these, its waters cold and pure, lined with rocky cliffs where small orcish and haruchai settlements cling to the heights. Here, in the shadows of the great mountains, the land is richer in metal than in grain, and it is from these hills that the forges of Bulgrastan draw their iron.
Beyond the foothills, the Ural Mountains rise, not towering like the peaks of the distant south, but high enough to be a formidable barrier. Their slopes are rugged, broken by deep valleys and windswept passes, their summits lost in mist for much of the year. Here, in the high places, the ogres of the banners hold their ancient halls, dug into the rock and guarded by their grim chieftains. The passes are few, and those who do not know them well may find themselves lost among the ridges, swallowed by the mountains before they ever reach the dwarvish lands beyond.
Climate
The climate of Bulgrastan is harsh, shaped by the long winters that roll down from the northern tundra and the warm winds that sweep up from the steppe. Snow lingers well into spring, burying the forests and hills beneath a thick, unbroken white, while the rivers freeze over, turning the land into a domain of ice. The Kama and its tributaries, sluggish in the cold months, become pathways for those who know the winter roads, the frozen surface bearing the weight of sleds and caravans where no passage is possible in the warmer seasons. But winter is also the season of hunger, when the deep cold presses into the earth and the wind howls through the valleys, driving beasts and men alike to shelter. It is a time of raiding, of warbands moving under dark skies, taking what they can before the rivers thaw and the land traps them once more.
Summer, when it comes, is short and fierce. The heavy snows melt in great floods, swelling the rivers and breaking their icy prisons with sudden, violent force. The Kama overflows its banks, turning the lowlands into a mire of mud and standing water, drowning the roads and washing away the bridges that the winter left untouched. The forests grow thick and tangled, their shadows deep with mist, while the steppe burns golden under the high sun, the grasses swaying in waves beneath the wind. The air is thick with storms, rolling in from the east, their thunder shaking the ground before the rains fall in heavy sheets. By the time the land dries, the summer is nearly spent, and already the mornings carry the bite of the coming frost. Autumn is little more than a warning, a brief moment of crisp air and clear skies before the cold begins its slow march southward once again.
